Press

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT WILD POWWERS:

WILD POWWERS gets under your “Skin”. With it’s new album, the trio proves that it’s the only modern Seattle grunge band that mattters. – SEATTLE WEEKLY

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It’s safe to say grunge music – the albatross hanging over the Seattle music scene for a solid three decades now – is the style the city is best known for, to the extent that the vast majority of contemporary guitar bands consciously avoid sounding anything like it. Instead, they lean hard into metal, they take acid and space out, they clutch tighter to their anoraks, they channel the rush of their teenage garage band years, they chew more bubblegum, they forget most of the chords they learned and start watching a lot of feminist stand-up comedy, they dive headlong into their parents’ yacht rock collections, they discover Sade, they trade their guitars for turntables.

Truth be told, in my humble opinion, the last truly great grunge record was Superunknown, and that came from a band spiritually aligned with the musical possibilities of the genre. Kim Thayil once described the genre as one part metal, one-half part psychedelic, and one-and-a-half parts punk. Listening to Skin, the very good third full-length by Seattle’s Wild Powwers (out today on Nadine Records), proves there are bands in town who care enough about the elemental combination to have the science down pat.

Which is not to say the music of Lara Hilgemann (guitars, vocals) Jordan Gomes (bass) Lupe Flores (drums, vocals) should be reduced to a mere formula or recipe. Like every good band ever, Wild Powwers have imbued a very individual sense of character into their music. For starters, they’ve always displayed a very fun sense of humor on the album-length narrative Doris Rising and the as-straightforward-as-they-are-capable-of-being Hugs and Kisses and Other Things. Skin is a slightly more serious record, but you can’t be accused of being too stoic when you name one of your pulsing barnburners “Well, Shit” and self-deprecatingly title your bereaved closing ballad “Sad Sap.”

Plus, it seems incredibly difficult to not have fun getting to play these songs.

The band has a deep regard for song structure, a great facility for building their songs. Slinking around with them like dance partners in a dimly lit bar and proceeding to pump their fists hard (opener “Buff Stuff”). Starting them up like a car engine, giving them a second to warm up, and hitting the throttle with gusto (the aforementioned “Well, Shit”). Rising with the sun and going on a trail jog (“Brand New Order”). Grabbing hands and hips and swaying in 6/8 time in the finest of teenage dress clothes (“May I Have This Dance?”). Hilgemann’s voice is arguably the group’s signature instrument; smooth and crooning, jagged and spiky, sometimes within the confines of the same song. Always tuneful.

“Night Sweats” settles into a disquieting feeling, circling into a mental and emotional struggle in different shades of black and shifting tempos. (Wild Powwers are exceptionally good at turning sharp corners in their songs and traveling to completely different places musically but staying in the same place emotionally.) “Sad Sap” stands among the very best songs the band has recorded yet, deliriously tired but unable to fall asleep, drowsily swaying with the sounds of the night while Hilgemann forlornly spouts a melody crystalline and carrying the weight of years while still managing to float. <meta charset=”utf-8″/>Counting sheep until the act nullifies its purpose, parked in front of the television until the calendar cycles into the next year.It goes a long way to exhibit the multitudes in which Wild Powwers are capable of showing: Humor and sadness, the spirit of their influences and the force of their own personality.

The bitter with the sweet. That’s how some of the best things are made. – Martin Douglas KEXP

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Last September, local trio Wild Powwers quietly released a booming, potent, and intelligent rock record. Doris Rising boasts heavy, crunching guitars and sinewy percussion, all expertly tempered by gorgeous, forceful vocals. The latter are mainly courtesy of guitar player Lara Hilgemann (formerly of the Peeping Tomboys), but backup vocals throughout the record enhance everything they touch. Bass undercurrents are handled by Jordan Gomes (Sailor Mouth), and the aforementioned drum work is that of the inimitable Lupe Flores (Tacos, the Grizzled Mighty, probably 12 other bands I don’t know about). This is one of those records you put on and then don’t turn off until it’s weeks later and you realize it’s the only thing you’ve been listening to. It’s an addicting affair, and according to Flores, the band is already at work on a new one. Get in now so you can say, “I told you so.” GRANT BRISSEY (The Stranger)

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Wild Powwers– Closing out a truly AMAZZZZZING evening is Wild Powwers, a trio of ample power indeed. Guitarist and vocalist Lara Hilgemann’s voice is a towering inferno. It’s unfuckwithable, to say the very least. Her guitar work complements her voice like fire and gasoline. Throw Jordan Gomes’ fast and dark bass licks in there and Lupe Flores’ full horsepower drums and you’ve got a force to be reckoned with. The members of Wild Powwers hail from such esteemed bands as The Peeping Tomboys, Sailor Mouth, Tacos, and The Grizzled Mighty. They seem to have found some genuine magic as a trio, however, making music that makes you feel like you might want to smash some bottles down by the train tracks with your juvenile delinquent friends while skipping 5th period. In the very best way possible. Their most recent effort, Doris Rising, tells the tale of Doris getting ditched at the prom and the very monstrous havoc she wrought. This record is so, so good. Apparently, they are already working on a new one, as well. Thank sweet holy fuck. We need Wild Powwers. But Wild Powwers sure as shit don’t need us. They’re burning this motherfucker to the ground… And laughing in the flames. – STACKEDD MAGAZINE

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Wild Powwers: Ok, ok, ok. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. Check this band out. I’ve never, ever, heard drums hit as hard as Lupe Flores does. She floats behind her kit just absolutely crushing every beat and singing harmonies while lead singer Lara Hilgeman owns every song with a voice that ranges from angelic to destructive. This ain’t no folk band, though I’m sure grunge/shoegaze is the folk music of some pretty cool folks. Bring your whole family to the darkened confines of the Vera Project, and leave assured that rock and roll in Seattle is very alive. -AMERICAN STANDARD TIME